MyHeart Counts app debuts with a splash

At Stanford Medicine, we’ve been anticipating the debut of MyHeart Counts, an iPhone app and cardiovascular research study, for some time. The researchers told us it had the potential to be the largest study of measured physical activity and heart health, and we were pretty darn excited. And we were also pleased to see the buzz surrounding Apple’s Monday morning announcement of ResearchKit, the app’s open source software host. Both MyHeart Counts and ResearchKit have been warmly received by both the tech and medical community and, just days after its release, the number of MyHeart Counts users is already in the tens of thousands.

We’re talking about data in medical research that’s never been encountered before

“Following the news, many researchers who spoke to The Huffington Post could barely contain how thrilled they were about the new iPhone feature, calling it ‘revolutionary,’ ‘groundbreaking’ and a ‘new dawn’ when it comes to scientific research,” Anna Almendralawrote on Tuesday. She went on to outline seven ways ResearchKit could change research for the better, and she quoted Stanford’s Alan Yeung, MD, an app architect and medical director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Health:

In most medical studies, 10,000 is a large number, but if we can really hit our mark and have a million people download it, you can do much larger population studies than anything that has been done in the past. So even though we might be slightly restricted in the beginning, we have plans to reach everybody in the world if possible.

This amount of data has never been available before, and if we multiply it by a million, let’s say, we’re talking about data in medical research that’s never been encountered before.

Enrolling 10,000 people in a medical study would normally take a year and the collaboration of at least 50 medical centers, Yeung told Bloomberg. “That’s the power of the phone.”

He said he also believes the app will make it less likely for participants to enter false reports because the device itself will keep track of their exercise. Researchers also plan to test how best to help people modify their behavior.

And the app isn’t just for avid techies or exercise enthusiasts. Physician-blogger Mike Sevilla, MD, wrote earlier this week that ResearchKit has the potential to improve medical care. “Imagine the synergy that will be created with the right app technology, engaged patients and interactive medical teams. Just mind blowing… The potential here is limitless.”

Strong words for a strong app. Check it out for yourself (there’s more info in the video above), because, yes, your heart counts.